World Coalition report: Towards a universal moratorium on the use of the death penalty

Where are we, then, on the subject of the dealth penalty as we prepare to look again at the issue at the 2010 UNGA? What impact have the UN Resolutions calling for a universal moratorium had on retentionist countries and those which are unsure about the issue? Have they encouraged the global trend towards abolition or have they, instead, contributed to the creation of an anti-abolitionist front?

The Report of the World Coalition against the Death Penalty report attempts to answer these questions by briefly reviewing the situation in seventeen countries where some progress towards abolition is evident but where, with the exception of Togo, no formal decision has been made on the subject. The countries are divided into three groups. The first group of countries which have a moratorium on executions, some of them have held this status for a long time, voted in favour of the Resolutions for a universal moratorium (Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, the Russian Federation). The second group of countries also have a moratorium on executions but abstained during the vote on the Resolutions and did not sign the Note Verbale (Ghana, Liberia, Morocco, the Republic of Korea, Togo). Finally, there are the countries whose position on the subject is ambiguous (Jordan, Lebanon, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Nigeria, India, the United States).

This report offers strategies and prospects for increased support for the new resolution and its implementation. It also feeds the report of the UN Secretary General for December 2010 on progress made in the implementation of resolutions 62/149 and 63/168. It has been released for the 4th World Congress against the death penalty, organized by ECPM with the partnership of the WCADP in Geneva, headquarters of UN bodies for human rights.

FIACAT, as well as ACAT Burkina, ACAT Benin and ACAT Togo have been involved in the drafting of this report.